musth

or must

[ muhst ]

noun
  1. a state or condition of violent, destructive frenzy occurring with the rutting season in male elephants, accompanied by the exudation of an oily substance from glands between the eyes and mouth.

Origin of musth

1
1870–75; <Urdu mast<Persian: literally, drunk

Words Nearby musth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use musth in a sentence

  • Domesticated elephants are generally very gentle and docile; though males in a state of musth often become very dangerous.

    Life in an Indian Outpost | Gordon Casserly
  • What was it the Mahometan syce the musth elephant killed at Bhurtpore said about his wife?

    The Dop Doctor | Clotilde Inez Mary Graves

British Dictionary definitions for musth

musth

must

/ (mʌst) /


noun
  1. (often preceded by in) a state of frenzied sexual excitement in the males of certain large mammals, esp elephants, associated with discharge from a gland between the ear and eye

Origin of musth

1
C19: from Urdu mast, from Persian: drunk

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for musth

musth

  1. An annual period of heightened aggressiveness and sexual activity in male elephants.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.